Halloween Conundrum

It's the middle of October, in case you didn't realize.  And it is time to start thinking about the holiday that I have the biggest love-hate relationship with.. Halloween.  

Hate being scared. I am a big scardy-cat.  I am scared to watch creepy commercials in broad daylight.  I run down the street to my house from my car if it's dark outside.  I haven't been in a haunted house since 2001 and I probably only went because I thought some boy was cute.  "Hocus Pocus" and "Casper" (the Devon Sawa version, obvi) and even Desperate Housewives can be too creepy for me at times.    So all this ghosts and goblins nonsense isn't really my thing. 

Love candy.  "I'll wear anything I have to wear. I'll do anything I have to do, to get the candy from these idiots who are so foolishly just giving it away."  --taken from Jerry Seinfeld's Halloween Bit.   So obviously, I have always been a fan of the candy aspect of this holiday.  I used to truck it out from start to finish, rain or shine, with my pillow sack and my winter coat just to get to as much candy as possible.  Now, I just buy my own.

Hate picking a Halloween costume.  There is just too much pressure.  Every year I have the same debate: Do I want to dress up?  Do I want to spend money on a costume?  And every year, it gets to around this time and I decide.. alright alright, I'll do it.  Reflecting on my passed Halloween costumes, I feel that I have had some pretty creative and successful costumes.  My costume career started in 2003 with my first year of college as Heidi from Tool Time (on Home Improvement.)  I would show a picture, but there's just a lot going wrong with me at this time.  2004 seems to be a lost costume year.  I don't know what went wrong here, but there is no existing evidence of what or if I dressed up.  (Unfortunately, I didn't become a Facebook member until November 2004.

In 2005, I purchased my first costume: Strawberry Shortcake which I displayed at Eastern Illinois and a Guster concert. (Top 10 most embarrassing moments being 1 of only 4 people dressed up for this show-- with Lepper, Haley, and Bando.)

 

2006- Another purchase and some misc. accessories. A Go Go Dancer in which everyone mistook me for Barbie.

 

2007- Gangster.  Which was cool because 3 Hahn Gangsters = a mafia.

2008- Hannah Montana.  How I thought this was a good idea, I'm not sure.  But Jimmy and the Osey got the best use out of that singing microphone prop I brought with me.

2009 - Victoria Secret Angel.  My ballsiest costume yet.  I am still looking for a reason to wear my wings again.  A girl never forgets her first pair of wings.

working the camera.

2010 - Betty Draper.  Candy cigs.  Deal breaker. I don't know why Giorgio didn't want to be Don.

 

2011- My very own super hero.  Face makeup was clutch & a great pulled together homemade costume to form Super T & Super K.    

Love Kari & Brett's annual Halloween party which means I have no choice, but to come up with another costume.

Maybe I should bring back my wings?  Maybe I should let my readers decide?  What should I be for Halloween this year?   Which was your favorite costume of mine in the past?


**Disclaimer** I will be at the XX concert at the Congress before the Halloween Party..  NBD

A Bears W with a side of Mac n Cheese

Is it just me, or do you dislike Tuesdays more than Monday too?  I think Monday I go through the motions, and then Tuesday is when my weekend and festivities catch up with me to make me feel extra unmotivated and lethargic.  My Monday was pretty awake for my action packed day, but yesterday I was ready for bed by 6:45pm. 

Yesterday was athletic day at school (only second to pajama day.)  Of course, I was sporting my yoga pants and Charles Tillman jersey.  How can you not have a great day when you get to where yoga pants to work?  Well my day peaked with yoga pants.  I should have known the rest of the day wouldn't have been so smooth when my classroom was practically on fire.   (Okay, I'm being a little dramatic.)   When the custodian came into fix said furnace, he asked if watched the Bears game last night (which of course, I did.)  And followed it up with the fact that he only watched the 1st quarter because it was boring.  BORING?!?! What is boring about 5 interceptions and a Bears W?  Nothing, that's what. 

There's also nothing boring about an overload of Homemade Mac.  I say overload because there was about 3.5 lbs of Mac n Cheese brewing at the Lair Monday night.  I offered to cook Mac n Cheese as a bribe to the Southport Corridor to watch MNF with me, though we all know that they didn't need a bribe to stay at their house.  Jes was supposed to join us but her case of the Mondays kicked in after school, and she opted out of traveling north, but still was craving Mac n Cheese.  And as for me.. I'll take my mac gluten free.  This is how we came to have 3.5lbs of Macaroni and Cheese. 

Though Tony makes a mean mac, I opted for a variation of Giada's Recipe.  Her recipe is actually a copy from Harry's Bar in Venice (which I've been too! I'm so cool, I know!)  So as Giada was teaching me through this video; I was teaching Jes.  (If you know anything about Jes, you know that the extend of her cooking is grilled cheese.  And don't get me wrong, I would prefer her grilled cheese to mine any day.  But I wouldn't dare let her make me peas.) 

I also made some improvements to Giada's recipe.  I used these large spiral noodles called trata something or tortella or something like that. (No! Not tortellini.)  They were huge and awesome and probably more tasty than yucky egg noodles even though I didn't taste them.  I got them from Jewel, but had never heard/ seen them before.  For my GF recipe.. I used Brown Rice Penne from Trader Joe's.  Since I drink Lactose Free Milk, and its pretty thick, I substituted it for whole milk.  And since I was cooking for boys, I added about 1.75lbs of pasta & some extra Parmesan cheese and an extra 1/2 pint of heavy cream.  And don't forget the bacon. 

Boys <3 bacon.="bacon." boys="boys" cheese.="cheese." cheese="cheese" mac="mac" n="n" nbsp="nbsp" oys="oys" p="p" therefore="therefore" with="with">
Top that bad boy with extra cheese and breadcrumbs to make it crunchy on top.  And here's what you get...

Gluten Free Macaroni & Cheese
 

Regular Mac n Cheese

Plus some happy eaters. 

Macaroni and Cheese

Recipe courtesy Giada De Laurentiis

 

Ingredients

• Butter, for greasing dish
• 12 ounces wide egg noodles
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 2 1/2 cups whole milk
• 2 teaspoons all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more for pasta water
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups (packed) grated Fontina
• 3/4 cup (packed) finely grated Parmesan
• 3/4 cup (packed) grated mozzarella
• 4 ounces cooked ham, diced, optional
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.

Butter a 13 by 9-inch glass baking dish and set aside. Cook the noodles in a large pot of boiling salted water until tender but still firm to bite, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes. Drain well, but do not rinse.
Whisk the cream, milk, flour, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and pepper in large bowl to blend. Stir in 1 cup Fontina, 1/2 cup Parmesan, 1/2 cup mozzarella, ham, if using, and parsley. Add the noodles and toss to coat. Transfer the noodle mixture to the prepared baking dish. Toss the remaining 1 cup Fontina, 1/4 cup Parmesan, and 1/4 cup mozzarella in a small bowl to blend. Sprinkle the cheese mixture over the noodle mixture. Bake until the sauce bubbles and the cheese melts and begins to brown on top, about 20 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Laters.

All good things must come to an end.  That good thing being my crip pass that I may or may not have been abusing for the past 2 months.  I say 2 because I legitimately needed it the first month.  Though that crip parking pass cost me a grand total of $330 after fines for not understanding where I can and cannot park, I still thoroughly enjoyed our time together. It is going to be weird adjusting to the common folk city life who pay for parking and have to obey time limits.  I will probably less encouraged to drive places because I can't just leave my car all over the GD city.  Back to the slums of the CTA.  Bummer. 

The worst part of parting ways is that I actually managed to re injure my knee last week. Do you think they will give me an extension for some minor swelling? It went down like this.  I have been running a couple days a week (about 2 miles or so.)  Well on Friday, I was feeling good to be back in my running club with Leanne that I tried to push it an extra quarter mile.  That caused me to trip over my own feet and almost face plant across the sidewalk.  Instead, my bad knee took the brunt of the fall, and my hands and shoulder took the rest.  I don't think I am cut out and coordinated for this running business.  At least not anymore.  When did I get so old?   (Can I blame being a klutz on being old?  I am pretty sure I have been running into walls since I was 2.) 


So since I'm saying goodbye to people, places, spaces, and material objects these days, I'd also like to take an opportunity to happily say goodbye to:

Baseball.  This is the longest season ever and like.. who cares.  I enjoy playing and attending games, but watching it on  TV is so slow.  (Not quite as slow as golf. I don't have a clue when golf season starts or ends.)

Wedding season.  2 more to go.  I know this is still middle of the road for some people, but this years season, come November 26th, is OVA.  Unfortunately or fortunately, there will probably be twice as many next year and the following.  (I guess I'm at that age, yikes!)

Sun dresses.  Bust out your fall boots!  There's no better season for fashion than the
fall.  I love changing the clothes in my closet between the seasons.  It feels like you have a whole new wardrobe. 

September.  Still remains the worst month to ever exist.  I despise you.  I'm still waiting for something happy to happen in September. 

RIP

Friday Favorites: Vegas Baby

In honor of my trip to Vegas I just booked, I thought I'd bring back Friday Favorites VEGAS style. This November, #theHahns will be taking over Vegas on account that my dad and Donna are finally getting married (after 12 years).    If you have not been to Vegas, you should probably squeeze your trip in sometime between now and Thanksgiving because after November 26th, Vegas will be burned to the ground. 

Any way, on to some picture favorites from Vegas (definitely a happy place-- even when you go swimming with your purse). What happens in Vegas.. umm sometimes stays in Vegas and sometimes ends up on Facebook. 


Taryn and I visit Vegas for the 1st time & decide we can only visit biannually. We spotted Hef and the Girls Next Door. Little did we know we'd co host Extra! with Holly in an few years time. 

 

 

American Airlines tried to steal Vegas from us or slow us down.  It worked for 24 hours.  Stuck at LAX airport, ugh.

 

 

After knowing Beth for a few months, and "convincing" her to come to Vegas, we celebrate her arrival by throwing her in the pool with her clothes on.

Who does this? Cirque du Soleil on the lawn of the Bellagio & walking the strip in our bikinis.  #Vegasbaby

Taryn and I tied the knot in Vegas. May 2009.
 

"Taryn, get out here.  I'm in the limo with the dance floor. Free ride!!"

Two bodies.  The end of a Vegas trip.

 See you in November.

My Happy Place

Today is the day I turn September around.  I am washing away my negative thoughts and feelings today.  No complaining. And no talking about tiresome situations. 

So here's to a new day: September 20th.  (Yes, I just raised my passion fruit iced tea into the air as a moment of embrace for this new day.  And yes, Starbucks is the answer if you'd like to start your day off right.) 

The best way to be positive and happy is to think positive and happy thoughts.  On my drive to work, I thought of a handful of things that I would consider my happy place.  And here I am to share them with you to help brighten my day (and maybe even yours.)

In no particular order---

• Flowers.  Which I happen to have a beautiful vase filled with beautiful flowers sitting on my dresser right now.  I should probably be spending more time in my room admiring them. I think I've said this a million times, but flowers just brighten your day no matter who they are from or what the reason.  They make you feel loved. 

My "just because" flowers from G <3 td="td">

• Winning.  I love winning random prizes or contests or raffles.  Most people would say I'm pretty lucky (#LuckoftheBlonde), but I think I just try to see the best in things.  Winning even something small & silly can really make my day.  I really like winning parking ticket refutes, but I have not accomplished that in awhile (tear).  Occasionally, I win something awesome like a $50 gift card to Binnys.  Thanks XRT!! 

• My six babies.  How can you just not smile at those precious gems?

• Finding a song that fits your exact mood at that exact time.  It's like therapy on the radio.  Song of choice for today: "Love, Love, Love" by Of Monsters and Men.

• Speaking of therapy, a sweaty run with my favorite running buddies or with an awesome playlist.  Sometimes I enjoy venting and talking through any frustrations while running, and sometimes its just better to pump it out to some energetic tunes.  Either way, running is definitely a happy place/ stress reliever.  Unfortunately, I am only still slowly working back into running, so I'm working on some alternatives to help me sweat it out. 

• When things work out with little to no effort.  Such as an impromptu girls night dinner where the people invited are actually randomly free on a Tuesday!! (Thinking of Roots: wine & sweet potato tater tots! Yum!)  Or getting a text for free sporting events or concerts and actually being able to go.  Even something as simple as walking out your door and getting a cab instantaneously or catching the El without running is a day brightener. 

Sox Game for Wilson's Birthday-- thanks for organizing Cassie!!

• Finding something you thought was lost.  Has anyone seen my silver watch?  That would make me happy right about now =)

• Seeing old friends.  Not bumping into high school acquaintances and have to have awkward small talk with, but hanging out with your friends that you, for some reason or another, don't get to see as often as you'd like.  It just gives you a sense of "home" and "normalcy" feeling.  Makes you feel grounded and remember where you came from. 

• PAYDAY! Which happens to be today. Self explanatory. 

And with that, I hope you have a fantastically bright and shiny day. 

(In fact, I already received word from my coworker, Leanne, that I have turned her day around since she walked into my room.  She left singing something about me being Sunshine.)
 

 

Bear Down: It's football season

After all the rush rush and busy joys of summer, its so great to come to the lazy-as-you-want-it-to-be football season of fall.  One of the best parts of football fall are that you have the option to rally on a Thursday night or lounge on the couch all day Sunday because there are football games to be watched.  For me.. I only really care about watching the Bears, but I have no arguements about watching an extra game or two just for the excuse to be extra lazy.  Did I say no arguements? I could do without 12 straight hours of fantasy football talk. But other than that, no arguments. 

I am pretty attentive during the Bears game, so I don't like to be too productive, but during the other games I mostly enjoy making soups and stews with the other miscellaneous games on TV.  Finally the weather is breaking, not complaining because I love the heat, but I can respect the fall weather for a change of clothes and activities.  One activity being soup making.  The weather is perfect to leave the windows open and the stove top boiling all day.  This past Sunday I prepared my Crock Pot Chicken Divan for Monday (which was divine) and this Sunday I plan on whipping up some beef stew (hold the beef for me.)  Football viewing is a great excuse to just eat all day long and almost not feel guilty about it. 

Another tribute to this great and holy Sunday, people are able to get a little crazier Saturday night because it is quite possible that it is the only night of the week you have plans.  Gone are the bridal showers, family birthday parties and festing that most traditionally occur on Summer Sundays.  No one has to hold back on a Saturday because now their only Sunday plans are football. AND.. If you're lucky enough, your plans on Sunday will already include "the hair of the dog" at a Bears party!  Remember when we used to have those guys??  Let's do that again, okay? Thanks. 

 

#HeadsofTails ?

 

 

 

Two Cents for CPS

While I appreciate people's concern, I am not a teacher in the CPS. I do however have a few comments or reactions to the situation at hand. I am not going to pretend that I have read the proposed contracts or even follow the story that closely, but since my school district went through this process for over two years, I have some credited insight.

For starters, support your teachers. You are being fed a one-sided story. The board's side. Teachers' Unions are not airing their business, issues and disagreements with the contract. You are only seeing the positive changes presented by the CPS board who are trying to make teachers look selfish and greedy. For example, you have probably heard (without even following this story) that CPS teachers want a 30% increase in pay. You may be thinking that's ridiculous, but consider the following: When was the last time CPS teachers received a raise? How is their current salary compared to the rest of Chicago's workers? And further more, they want to extend their work time by an hour. Shouldn't that be compensated monetarily? I know it doesn't seem like a big deal to add time to a teacher's day, but your just adding time that is directed by administration in addition to the extra time that teachers already put in just to keep up with their daily work load. Also, aren't these extended school days just another example of how teachers are the new nannies and parents aren't responsible for the children anymore?

Something else to keep in mind.. it is very frustrating when negotiating teachers' contracts because the people on the board making these decisions have never been a classroom teacher. They have no idea the effects of each new stipulation they place into the contract. Police officers and fireman wouldn't want me weighing in on how their facilities are going to be run and their job expectations just because I'm a tax payer and they are in a tax-paid position. I have NO IDEA what their day is like even if I have been to a police station or fire house before.
It seems that Chicago and news broadcasters are really taking this opportunity to push Charter Schools, which by the way, "are still open today." I'm not sure what they are trying to prove, but if charter schools could strike, I'm sure they'd already be doing it. They are the perfect example of why every work field needs unions. Those without unions are clearly taken advantage of. Talk about having zero respect for teachers. While the Charter school system might be an excellent learning establishment, they take full advantage of their teachers by having them work extremely crazy hours including lunch supervision and 2 hour impromptu after school meetings.  I don't see how that's fair.
My point is this: Teachers are not selfish and greedy. We are caring individuals who put in a lot of time to give your children the best education possible.  We work hard, and sometimes we like to be recognized for our hard work.  We most certainly do not deserve to be taken advantage of, pushed around, and made out to be the villains. 

And that's all I have to say about that.

Summer Slacking

Lately its as though I've been slacking at everything in life.  Blogging, cooking, keeping my room clean.  Obviously this means the beginning of the school year and the end to another summer.  It's funny because the lack of productivity really starts in the summer when you should be cutting down your to-do lists with all your free time.  But somewhere between the pool, rehab for my knee and wedding festivities, the list has been built up and put off for quite some time now.  Since school has started again, the to-do list has been amplified and categorized as: "Home to-do lists," "Work to-do lists," "Suburb to-do lists," and "Weekend to-do lists."  It's all just very stressful.  So yes Mich, I too have an obsession with Post-its.  (I'm also convinced I'd get more done if I stopped making lists and just completed tasks as they came on.) 

Once school starts back up, you start to wonder what you did with your whole summer.  One thing that I really didn't do this summer was cook.  I'm going to chalk that one up to the never-ending heat.  Who wants to turn on a stove or oven on a 100 degree day?  As for grilling, I have two outdoor grills.  An electric grill that is slow as molasses to heat up and to cook and a good ole Weber charcoal grill.  I actually used each of these grill exactly one time this summer and decided they were just too much work.   I resorted back to my stove top grill pan which smokes up the house quite lovely.  As a result, I didn't cook very much this summer.

As school started back up, my friend Leanne started bringing in these awesome left overs for lunch which inspired me to want to look into some new recipes. Well I didn't have to look far because apparently I have a million recipes in a folder in Gmail, and another handful on pinterest and in my recipe box.  So while I was awake at 3:30am on Sunday morning, I decided it was the right time to sift through them (probably because I was trying to fight off my hunger until a reasonable breakfast time.)  I came across so many great recipes that I had once found or been sent and never made. 

That led to me being impractical about cooking dinner dinner every night.  Even though this would be wonderful in theory, I'm too lazy to make massive dinners for 1 and I'm not even home for dinner 5 days a week.  So.. if you're interested in coming over for dinner... call for your reservation =)

For now.. I've cooked one dinner since Sunday titled "Easy Garlic Chicken" that I found on Pinterest. 


Picture & Recipe taken via Pinterest from food.com
http://www.food.com/recipe/easy-garlic-chicken-5478
 

I'd like to call this recipe a little something different:

Brown Sugar & Garlic Chicken
2 pieces of boneless skiness chicken breast
1 1/2 tsp olive oil
2 tbsp brown sugar
a lot a lot of garlic (more than the recipe calls for), minced

1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees.
2. Saute the garlic in the oil for a few minutes.
3. Remove from heat when its translucent.
4. Mix with the brown sugar.
5. Spray down the pan you're using. Place chicken in the pan. Pour the mixture over the chicken. (I like to put slices in the chicken so some of the juices soak in and the thick meat cooks all the way through.)
6. Bake for 30 minutes.

Enjoy =)

Friday Favorites: Fall & Winter 2009

For those of you who know me, or are friends with my on FB, you could say that I'm known to snap a few photos here and there.  I love pictures & I love looking back and pictures of happy memories.  There are some pictures that you look at, you can't help but smile, laugh or cry. 

First up: Some of my favorite memories from the fall of 2009 and the winter of 2009-2010.  From top to bottom, my favorite memories of this time period based on the pictures alone.

Seven.

We scored some 8th row seats in the end zone at the Bears game!  It was awesome til some woman made me cry, Jes dumped a beer on her head, and the other Jes got lost.  After all that.. it's still one for the books!

Six

My first visit to Ann Arbor and I spent it on a boat with Ry Guy.  The laughs and comments on this trip were unmatched!  He also took me to only my 2nd MSU football game (I usually just tailgate), and a dip  in the middle of G's water polo game. 

Five.

Jes & I saw Brand New at the Aragon!  Great venue.  Amazing show.  Even better cab ride out afterwards.

Four.

Mar & I crashed an 8th grade reunion to do some investigative work on a situation.  It didn't hurt that it was at the Ale House-- Home of the greatest frozen sangria margarita drink of all time.

Three.

Giorgio is being 'the ball' (of warmth) as Taryn and I freeze are butts off on Brett's boat in Florida.  This trip was awesome as it was, but it would have been really nice if we hit 70 degrees while we were there in OCTOBER!

Two.

I went on an impromptu trip to Colorado to ski with Ryan & Luke.  Picture on the left shows me dead on the mountain because these crazies took me on double black diamond runs.  The picture on the right shows Ryan and I finding mimosas immediately after picking me up from the airport.  (obviously)

One.

My favorite find of today.. Christmas with the Hahn's-- After drinking champagne all day, my aunt hid the final bottle on us.  But Taryn followed her heart to find the last bottle which of course ended with a champagne toast!  Hallelujah!

Is it bad that my top two picks involve champagne?

It's My Birthday.. Month!

Did anyone realize today is August 1st?  You know what that means!!  Now I know that all of you are pretending like you looked at the headline of this post and decided not to read it.. and that's okay.  But in reality, you want to know what the birthday princess has got to say for herself on this precious occasion.

First of all, stop being such birthday haters.  I do not expect anyone to celebrate my birthday, but one day out of the month.  And that one day is usually a good one.  Someone please tell me when they had a bad time on my birthday?  And Dave.. let's not talk about the sweater birthday.  You did that to yourself.  There's been a few moments that I shed a few tears, but hey, you know the saying.. "It's my party. And I do what I want to." (That's for you G.)

So what are the chances that this August is packed to the brim with weddings, bachelor(ette) parties and vacations, not to mention going back to work again for a living (lame, I know.).. but what are the chances that the only weekend people are free in August is my BIRTHDAY WEEKEND?!  It's a sign... it's pointing to Leo.

That's right.  I'm a Leo so I can't help it that I'm obsessed with my birthday.  See:

Leo is the fifth sign of the zodiac. These folks are impossible to miss, since they love being center stage. Making an impression is Job One for Leos, and when you consider their personal magnetism, you see the job is quite easy. Leos are an ambitious lot, and their strength of purpose allows them to accomplish a great deal. The fact that these folks are also creative makes their endeavors fun for them and everyone else. It's quite common to see a Leo on stage or in Hollywood, since these folks never shy away from the limelight. They are also supremely talented and have a flair for the dramatic. Warmth and enthusiasm seems to seep from every Leo pore, making these folks a pleasure to be around. They do love pleasure!

It's the Lion that symbolizes Leos, and the king (or queen) of the jungle is a most appropriate mascot, since they consider themselves the rulers of their universe (and the zodiac at that). (read more...)

I think I've made my point.. My birthday's fun! It's my day to shine! What's not to love?

Now let me take a minute to explain the birthday month.  It's not like I think people need to respect my birthday wishes for an entire month.  I'm fine with just a weekend.  However, I do feel the need to celebrate my birthday with everyone!  So the birthday month manifested because I happen to have lots of close friends who for some reason or another, can't all attend my birthday.  So in lieu of my party, we have a birthday lunch, dinner, or champagne toast!  Then there's a family birthday dinner.  Then there's a birthday beach day.  A birthday bar night! Birthday cake with the babies!  Then there's a birthday with the boy.. You can see how this goes on and on to take up the whole month of August.

I'm not the monster that created this birthday month, its everyone else.  I'm just reaping the benefits.  So everybody just relax and stop pretending that you don't want to partake in the festivities!!  Plus, I've made it more enjoyable by teaming up with some more awesome Leo's having joint birthday parties the past 3 years (I think I deserve some credit for that.)  Sadly, no birthday plans have been made yet. But rest assured that once I make a birthday decision with my fellow birthday betches of the month, you will be receiving your favorite email of the year (except you Jes. I'll spare you by hand making your invitation and posting it on the fridge.)

Happy Birthday Leos!!

Mexican Pizza Baby

You might not know this about me, but I use to be a huge fan of Taco Bell.  I know.. gross.  But every day off campus, Al & Hatch would take me to McDonalds for Happy Meals 7 toys or Tacos & bouncy balls.  I was young, active, and had the metabolism of an 8 year old.  Life. Was. Good.  Taco Bell is just like any other Mexican food place: same ingredients wrapped up and served in different ways.  So there are three reasons I don't eat TB anymore. 1) Fast Food is kind of nasty. 2)My stomach just couldn't handle it anymore.  3)Well this is a bit more of a story to share.

About 9 years ago, my two softball teammates, Lindz & Smo offered me up a little bet.  They challenged me to get the Grande Combo of ten tacos, and eat it by myself.  I don't remember what I'd get in return, but I do know that I never got out.  So on the day of the challenge, we went to my local TB and ordered ten tacos--5 hard, 5 soft.  I was trying to figure out which would be less filling, but I don't think it mattered in the end.  The first two went down like wine.  By taco 4, I was trying to create double deckers with my hard & soft shells.  By taco 6, I was trading soft shells for hard shells.  And by taco 7, my face was legitimately turning green. I completed the task, finishing all ten tacos, and immediately walked outside and puked for 30 minutes.  You can see why I have avoided TB like the plague. 

I'd be lying if I said that was the last time I ever ate TB.  There was a few times in college that the drunk food craving got the best of me.. but even that was over 6 years ago. 

About a month ago, I was having a flashback to my favorite item on the TB menu:  the Mexican pizza.  I kept thinking how I wanted it, but couldn't bring myself to the shame of actually ordering TB.  As I was cruising around Pinterest, I was inspired by a "healthy" Mexican pizza pin.  After talking about it for a month with Taryn, we finally decided to create, what we called "The Mexican Pizza Baby."  The recipe I found is from the blog Honey, What's Cooking?

Homemade Mexican Pizza  (modified from "Honey, What's Cooking's?" Recipe)


makes 4 pizzas:

• 1 Bag of Mission Tostados (2 pieces for each pizza)
• 1 15oz can Old El Paso Refried Beans
• 1/4 cup Water
• 1 large Onion (diced)
• 1 tsp Paprika
• 1/4 tsp Black Pepper
• 1 tsp Taco Seasoning
• 1 bunch Scallions/ Green Onions (chopped)
• 1/2Jalapeno (deseeded & finely chopped)
• 1 Tomato (chopped)
• Taco Bells chunky salsa, medium
• Mexican Cheese Blend - (1 bag) you can use reduced fat cheese
• Sour Cream Reduced Fat – 1 dollop per pizza (optional)
• Taco Bell Hot Sauce - they sell it in stores, or just steal some from TB

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degree.
2. Line a baking sheet with foil.  Heat up tostados for about 2-5 minutes for extra crispiness
3. In a small pan, heat the beans, water, onions, paprika, pepper, and taco seasoning on low heat for about 10 minutes (or until its thoroughly warmed up).
4. Spread the bean mixture over one of your tostados and a thin layer of salsa. 
5. Add the other tostado on top.  Add a bit more salsa, tomatoes, green onions, jalapenos (as desired).
6. Cover with cheese and pop back into the oven for about 5-10 more minutes (until the cheese is melted).
7. Add a dollop of Daisy (sour cream) and smother with TB hot sauce.

WaaLah! Heaven.  I think Taryn and I moaned after every bite.  Then we had to walk an extra lap after dinner to recover from the Mexican baby we just manhandled.  This dinner was so easy and delicious.. all the Mexican ingredients wrapped up in a different way.  And the best part.. I don't have to show my face in Taco Bell to get the goods. 

The Burbs

Driving to said birthday party the other weekend (mentioned in the previous post), Giorgio and I had this conversation: 

G-"What suburb would you want to live in?" 
me- "I have no idea.  I don't even know what area of the city I want to live in, and I want to be there." 
G-"It's just so depressing out here.  I feel like living in the suburbs is one step closer to death." 

I have to agree with him.  I mean, it's not that I think I'm better than you because I live in the city. I just think I'm having more fun.  There's always so much to do in the city with minimal effort.  You can always find friends or strangers who want to partake in a plethora of activities: listening to live music, flip a few cups, hop on a boat on Lake Michigan, or shop at cute boutiques. While the upsides to Chicago residents are quite obvious, so are some of the downsides. Public transportation can be smelly.  Some areas are not too safe.  And traffic.. well.. that exists in the burbs too.  Despite what suburbanites think, parking in Chicago is not too difficult if you know where you're going.  And smelly public transportation is a better option that choosing a DD for the night.  My only complaint about Chicago are the rip-off tickets that you can get for reasons you don't even know exist.

Growing up in the suburbs, I learned to appreciate a few things since parting ways.  For starters, drive-thrus.  I recently developed a love for Passion Fruit Iced Tea from Starbucks.  I especially like them when I'm feel rather lethargic and don't want to detour from my route or get out of my car.  It's times like these that I long for a drive-thru.  I have yet to see a Starbuck's drive-thru in the city. 

Swimming pools. I have been spoiled with clean, small bodies of water (pretty much) at my doorstep my whole life.  My nearby relatives always had a pool in which I was granted full access to at any time.  I understand why people in the city don't just have pools on their rooftops, but I just don't like it.  How sweet would rooftop pools be in Chicago?  Instead, we have the beach.  I'm not complaining about it, but its kind of a struggle to get to where as in the suburbs, your one-stop bronzing haven is at your fingertips. 

Back to driving and tickets.  Is it just me, or are red-light photo tickets ruining your life?  These money-making machines have made their way out to the suburbs now, too.  Those cameras are everywhere and I think they are more dangerous than helpful.  I wonder how many accidents have been caused by people trying to slam their brakes before the camera flashes their plates.  It's probably the same number of accidents that have been caused by people running lights!  Anyway.. The pro of the suburb here is the length of the yellow light.  The yellow light easily lasts 5 seconds compared the cities 1/2 second yellow.  So if you're getting red light tickets in the suburbs, you are really trying. 

Since I don't want to make the suburbs sound too good, I'll speak my final (and probably most important) pro of the suburbs.  It is a great place for kids & family.  That might be a con actually for some.  But eventually, if you want kids, the suburbs are the most practical place to be.  Better schools, safer neighborhoods, and sidewalks and backyards for all their needs.  You can't really argue that.

While there are some convincing arguments for life in suburbia.. they just aren't that enticing. And just because you have kids, doesn't mean you have to succumb to life with "one foot in the grave."  So I think I'll stay a city girl a while longer.

Blast from the Past

On Sunday, I went to Kaylee, my "niece's", 3rd birthday party.  For starters, I never recalled being this spoiled.  But then again, I was never an only child, niece, grandchild, etc.  The party was all adults and her, so it's obvious that she attracts a lot of attention.  I don't even want to talk about the issues she's going to have when her new baby brother is stealing that from her come August.  Anyway, seeing that her mom is my oldest, nearest and dearest friend, her daughters childhood is pretty much a recreation of ours.  All of the things that we enjoyed as kids, Jess gets to relive through Kaylee. 
 

Obviously now that I'm old, the childhood memories have a great age ranger than 0-3, but these are just a few of the classics:

Squeeze Its

Jess just told me that she started buying these for Kaylee.  Do you remember these?  For some reason, Jess and I used to think it was funny to pretend to be drunk off squeeze its (though we probably were sugar high).  We would walk back and forth to each others houses and bump into each other slurring our words.  So odd, I know.

 Are You Afraid of the Dark?

I was.  I still am. But I was actually scared of this Nickelodeon TV show.  Good thing I only watched it at Jess's house because we didn't have cable at my house.  What a deprived child!

 Ants on a Log

 

Remember snack time in elementary school?  Well it still exists.  But no snack was ever quite as satisfying as 'Ants on a Log.'  You know the celery, filled with peanut butter and topped with raisins.  Of course I always skipped the raisins because they creeped me out.  I don't think the teachers liked them in the classroom because how could you not smear PB everywhere?? Nowadays this snack wouldn't even be allowed in a classroom because there are so many dang PB allergies.  I mean, survival of the fittest, right?  Let's weed those weaklings out.

Lunchables

 

 Speaking of food at school.. lunchables were another treat.  It wasn't often that I got a lunchable for school, but it was awfully exciting when it happened. It started out with the simple turkey, cheese, crackers and candy.  Then Oscar Meyer decided to really give kids what they want: Pizza lunchables followed by the ultimate, Nacho lunchables.  There really couldn't have been any nutritional value in either of these.  When one of these two precious packages were in my lunchbox, I devoured every last finger-licking-drop.  I wonder what they taste like now?  Probably so gross.

Dress Up
 

So Kaylee has this obsession with dress up clothes.  She was even sporting a pretty purple gown at the birthday party.  At least 5 out of her 32 gifts were dress up clothes.  Jess and I weren't so lucky to receive dress clothes as gifts in our size (or maybe we never wanted them.)  Instead, we had our own chest of dress up clothes that her mom put together for us.  They consisted of her mom's old bridesmaid dresses, and they served as all of our costumes for the bazillion plays that we wrote (the award-winning Meanadella), and put on for her poor family at parties.  We thought we were so talented we even charged them 10 cents admission.  Hmm.. I think we need to dig up those old videos. 

Making Money

As a kid, you are always trying to scam a dollar from someone who wants to buy your crap because you're a cute kid.  Well, at the time, you probably think people actually want what you are selling, but now, we know better.  So of course Jessie and I created a few lemonade stands in our day.  We really thought we were going to "make a living" selling lemonade that our parents bought for us.  As we got older, we moved onto friendship bracelets and "rats" tails.  We could definitely do some good work with some colored floss, but we always just ended up giving them away.  I think our "rats" tail business went down hill when we offered to put them in the girls' hair at Jaci's birthday party.  We might have gotten it stuck in Jaci's hair and had to cut it out.  Bad for Business.  Is it sad that I still have all my floss and beads?? I still have my skills.

Snow Forts

Without fail, every winter, Jessie and I tried to make a snow fort.  An igloo, if you will.  We used the same brick molds.  We would pack snow into the mold and lay the snow-bricks side by side.  The first layer was obviously the easiest and then the second.  I don't remember ever really getting to a 3rd layer because we questioned how the damn Eskimos got the igloo to become round on top and still balance. I still don't know to this day.  Most times, the snow melted before we could ever finish. I can say that neither of these ever stopped us from starting our igloo every time we had good packing snow.

Bikes--"The Road"

Obviously, this is not the road.  It's scaled down a bit.

Speaking of things getting ruined before you could really enjoy them... Every summer we created "the road."  Essentially it was a "street/ town" we created on the sidewalk with chalk that led from Jessie's house to mine.  We never went all the way to my house because it was too far so somewhere around the "boat-house" (what we referenced the house that always had a boat in the driveway, about 10 houses up) "the road" turned into a highway to my house.  Pretty clever and lazy.  Regardless we work all day on this road.  building in stop signs, the drawing the sidelines and the dotted middle ones, and of course we had to include McDonald's and gas stations.  We put our younger siblings and neighborhood kids to work, of course.  Sometimes we didn't finish the road before it rained and that was it.  Other times we'd ride our bikes for days. 


Boy Meets World

Has anyone noticed that they are now showing reruns for Boy Meets World.. all day, every day? I used to watch this show everyday.  What kind of name is Topanga?  Good thing that never got trendy. 

Play Dough

So, I might have got Kaylee a play dough set for her birthday.  What kid doesn't love play dough?  What parent does?  I have to admit, I really wasn't thinking about the hassle this would be for Jess when I bought it.  But if you can recall your play dough days, when you asked to take out the play dough, your parents thought of any and every other activity that they could entice you with so they wouldn't have to bust out that nasty smelling and all-time messiest play dough.  Even I make excuses now when I'm babysitting.  But you can't deny that kids just love their play dough.

Posters

Remember when your room looked like this?  My walls were always covered with posters of NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, JTT, etc.  Was their any other purpose of buying a Teen Beat magazine than for posters to hang up in your room.  And boys, I know there's a few of you that had WWF or Superhero posters on your walls.  Maybe I have that wrong.. Pamela Anderson as CJ on Baywatch??

Cookies & Milk:

I will end this trip down memory lane, the same way I ended every childhood night: with cookies and milk.  3 cookies, a glass of ice cold milk, and a napkin to knock the crumbs off the cookie before you dipped.  If I was lucky, I'd talk my mom or dad into a 4th cookie (what a pig). I should start this tradition up again  (if I ever have the metabolism of my childhood self again.)

Okay.  Can I just have a day or month and be a kid again?  Life was so simple.  How do kids have so much time for TV, video games, and the computer?  The world is their playground!